Dwarves
The Dwarves a proud and industrious race, mostly found to the northern reaches of Dugond. Stretched across the mountains many adventures come upon the three different kinds of dwarves. While all of these dwarves are visually and physically similar, mistaking them for one another is a drastic cultural mistake. Family One of the most important things to a dwarf, no matter what region or cultural group they hail from, one of the dearest and most treasured things a dwarf has is their family, usually in the form of an overarching clan within the subculture Clan structure is important to dwarves, with the eldest of their clan usually taking charge and leading the clan as a whole, though admittedly some young and powerful generations have wrested control from their elders, one way or another, in the search of bettering their clans placement in their homelands. Outside of the family, there is the clan, but outside of the clan is the culture. Dwarves divide themselves into three distinctive breeds dependant on geographical location and prefered crafting medium. These being, from east to west, the Wood Dwarves, the Stone Dwarves, and the Gem Dwarves. Wood Dwarves On the eastern slopes, where the mountains have begun to give way to the mighty Silvermist Forest, live the Wood Dwarves. The most amicable of the three groups, wood dwarves traditionally live above ground in homes that they craft for themselves, hewing the mighty trees that they draw their cultural name from with the finest axes in the land. Like all dwarves, they are are tight knit in their familial groups, but unlike their western cousins, the eastern Wood Dwarves are less prone to mistrust and competition between their clans. Wood Dwarf children grow up in a communal family, their neighbors almost like their neighbors like aunts and uncles and their playmates like far flung cousins. That is also to say that if one dwarf catches a young one being a brat, the child may be receiving a just spanking from somebody that they share no blood with. This causes some tension when the person administering punishment is too much a stranger to the family, but classically it is simply a fact of their lives. Carpentry is in the blood of the wood elf, giving them a sort of bond with things mad of wood unlike many other races. It is said that no self respecting wood dwarf has a stick of furniture in their home that they didn't make themselves (or at the very least cut down the tree for) and so a Wood Dwarf's home becomes a reflection of not only themselves and their clan, but the clan's overall skill with the art of carpentry. So great is their bond with wood that tales of wood there have been whispers of dwarves finding the fault in thick wooden doors with the lightest of taps before sundering the barricade with a strike from their brow. Stone Dwarves Between the east and the west ends of Sull rests the homes of the Stone Dwarves. Masters of masonry and the greatest defenders of Sull's lands. It is said that some Stone Dwarves are born with a pick in their hand, rather than a rattle. From the mountains that make up their homes, they have carved great underground cities whose size is only matched by the capital of Sull itself. It is said that from deep within their underground mines comes the finest metals that the world has to offer, their forges not only ones of fire and coal, but of deep draws of magma to heat the toughest of materials. The world over, when many adventurers look at the hardiest of weapons and proclaim them "dwarven made" more than likely the weapon found its start beneath the hammer of a stone dwarf. Stone Dwarves also represent the bulk of militant dwarves as they are far more used to the regimented lifestyle of living underground, unlike the Wood Dwarves, but also have not been drawn in by the glamor and riches like the Gem Dwarves Dwarven Life Upon maturation, a wood dwarf does not have to go through trials, but instead learn to craft in order to be recognized as an adult. A Wood dwarf must first go out into the forest and chop down a tree thicker than his arms can encompass and then using the skills he has learned in carpentry, carve something from that tree. Many young dwarves use this as a chance to show what path they have chosen in life. Would be warriors craft a shield or haft for themselves. Bards may craft an instrument. As usually this crafting requires the purchase of additional components in the form of metal or jewelry, it also shows that a young dwarf is attempting to become fiscally responsible for his own life, as well as planning for the future. Category:Races